Hanover's Garland stands out at Snacktown Duals

Hanover's Caleb Garland wrestles at the 2015 PIAA State Championships in Hershey. Garland is looking to get back to states and place in the top five this season. He went 4-0 and was awarded standout wrestler at Saturday's Hanover Snacktown Duals.(Photo: Jeremy Long - GameTimePA.com)Buy Photo

Caleb Garland doesn't mind giving up points or falling behind in a match.

The Hanover senior 132-pounder thinks he can beat anyone, no matter what the score.

After his performance at Saturday's Hanover Snacktown Duals, it would be difficult for anyone to count Garland out. He was awarded oustanding wrestler after winning his first three matches by pins, including two against previously undefeated opponents, followed by a 14-4 major decision over Twin Valley's Aaron Wildonger, who is ranked in the top 15 in Class AAA by PA Power Wrestling.

Garland's most exciting win, and one of the most exciting wins of the tournament came in the final match of a dual against Harrisburg, when he pinned Mitch Clark while trailing 7-2 in the second period. The pin secured a 46-36 victory for the Nighthawks, who placed fourth in the tournament.

“We laugh about it because Caleb doesn’t really care too much about giving up points," Hanover coach Kurt Brenner said. "His basic match strategy is ‘Let’s just go out there throwing haymakers and see who tires out first, and I’m gonna come out on top.’”

Garland said he's always willing to give up a couple points for the opportunity to get more, even though he admits that mindset might not always make sense. But Brenner doesn't mind.

“I’ve been his coach for three years, so I’m just so used to it that I let him wrestle his match," Brenner said. "You don’t want to change a kid like that, he’s just a competitor. We had to fine tune some things, but now we’re at a point where we think he can get into the state tournament and do some real damage.”

Garland went 1-2 at the PIAA Class AA championships as a 120-pounder last season, and said he aspires to place in the top five at states this season. The Snacktown Duals gave him and his teammates the opportunity to face competition from Class AAA before they get into the thick of YAIAA competition in January.

“I definitely like the idea of going out and getting better competition," he said. "It helps me and everyone else in the room to get those better matches.”

In addition to Garland's performance, Hanover got a pin and a major decision from 182-pounder Justin Barnes. Colton Angel, Donovan Holmes, Zach Barnes, Jordan Laughman, Aaron Bowman, Anthony Shindledecker and Nick Miller all contributed a pin over the course of the day as well, helping Hanover beat Washington (W. Va.) and Harrisburg. The Nighthawks losses came against Reading and Twin Valley, with the latter loss came down to the final match and ending by a 45-34 score.

“Harrisburg’s a big school, they’ve got phenomenal athletes, guys that can really wrestle," Brenner said. "Our guys battled hard. Coming away with that win was real nice for us. Same thing with Twin Valley, we were right there but just couldn’t come away with it.”